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Get Pinspired to use Pinterest for Business

Pinterest for business; have you considered it? Upon visiting Pinterest’s website for business owners, you find these words, “Get discovered by millions of people looking for things to plan, buy and do”. In essence, this is yet another targeted audience searching for you.

I wouldn’t say Pinterest is for every business but it's probably applicable in more areas than you think. There a few caveats to making a business page successful. Plus, the audience is very gender dominant (anywhere from 72-97% female).

With those things being said, let’s discuss the basics of Pinterest so that you are better able to determine whether it fits into your social media and content marketing arsenals.

Are you in it to pin it?

Winning with Pinterest is easy. Getting started is even easier. There is a handy starter guide, free pro advice, and a quick website verification process. Once you have determined that Pinterest is right for your business, you’ll need to add the ‘Pin It’ button throughout your website so that your images and videos can be easily added to your audience’s boards. The cool thing? All Pins and Repins link back to their original sources which means you get the referral traffic.

Is Pinterest worthy of your social media time?

Pinterest is for companies...

with visually stimulating photography

open to improving site and imagery quality

that have more to share than straight business posts (trends, news, etc.)

that are willing to leave out the heavy marketing mumbo jumbo (this is not an ad, per se)

that target mature, female consumers

that aren’t already burned out on social media

Also, products are a bit easier to showcase than services, unless you have a kick-a graphic designer and/or photographer at your disposal. The most popular industries on Pinterest are fashion, food, crafts and the wedding industry. If you do not fall into one of those, do not instantly rule it out. Remember, the goal is to be discovered by people looking to plan, buy, and do. Not in one of the obvious industries? No problem, think of a different strategy, such as a ‘before and after’ angle. At Terrostar, we are working on a board which will showcase our favorite "before and after" web designs.

Pins & Boards

You do not have to be on pins and needles as you embark on this new social adventure. Creatively and clearly name your boards and keep it to 20 characters or less so as to avoid the cut off limit. You’ll also want to create a variety of boards to attract a variety of people. Utilize your creative writing skills to describe each board and pin (200-300 words is a good starting place) and make sure all of your pins are beautiful, actionable and interesting (reference: Pinterest for Business guide). For those who have ever had to say a lot with a little, this will be a breeze compared to digital ads and billboards! Choose your words carefully and always write for your audience first.

Pinalyze, not to be Confused with penalize

Once your site is verified you have access to Pinterest analytics. Since analytics are built right in, use them! Make a big deal out of your most popular pins, especially if you are a merchandiser, restaurant, or designer. If you have a brick and mortar, all the more opportunity to get social and show off your Pinterest popularity. If the summer wedding fascinator you designed has the most pins so far this season, create a visual in your store with that fascinator and a cute Pinterest board (a physical version) to catch the attention of your shoppers. Place a QR code on your board so they can directly link up to all of your boards and pins.

More Pinteresting Facts

Similar to other social media giants like Facebook and Twitter, Pinterest will soon be launching Promoted Pins. The arrangement of Promoted Pins will be very similar to the ads before it’s time; target your audience, get visitors back to your website, pay for the click-through (CPC/PPC), track and refine your campaign.

If you have the help of a developer (or a handy CMS), you can explore Rich Pins for even more usability and detail. This strategy will also equate to better search results, along with fine tuned Pin descriptions, as mentioned earlier.

You already know from earlier to splash your website with the ‘Pin It’ buttons, but don’t forget to include them in your email marketing campaigns. Promote it on your fleet vehicles, packaging and anywhere that makes sense too. Make it discoverable.

People are visual. People love to plan, buy, and do. For these reasons, Pinterest is not only a popular social platform, but, for many, it’s an addiction. Even if you don’t get it, 70 million people do and many of those are other businesses in need of your products (and services). Stay tuned for a more in depth look at Pinterest by the numbers as we welcome our first guest post next week!